Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria

Archduke Maximilian III, called the German champions. ( Born October 12, 1558 Wiener Neustadt, † November 2, 1618 in Vienna) was the fourth eldest son of Emperor Maximilian II

Biography

From 1585 he was coadjutor and 1590 Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and Administrator of Prussia.

So like his father, Emperor Maximilian II before, Maximilian III was. 1587 chosen as king of Poland, but lost Sigismund III. Wasa. When he tried to resolve the issue militarily, his troops were defeated by the soldiers of the Polish Kronfeldherren January Zamoyski; while he was captured. Only after the intervention of Pope Sixtus V. He was released, and in 1589 he resigned finally to the Polish crown. The inactivity of his brother Rudolf II in this affair contributed to its bad reputation ( and the following Bruderzwist ).

From 1593 to 1595 he was regent in Inner Austria for the still immature Archduke Ferdinand, and then in Upper Austria (Tyrol ), where he performed as a consistent supporter of the Counter-Reformation. He also ran the overthrow Khlesls and the succession of Ferdinand on the imperial throne.

In 1606 he brought out a renewed Code of the Teutonic Order, as much out of date and the income had been greatly reduced by multiple defensive battles against the Turks and the loss of several bailiwicks. After many years a Reichstag was 1613 again held by the new Emperor Matthias, on which, as Maximilien did not appear in person, his deputies in the Order ( John Eustace of Westernach, Johann Konrad Schutzbar, Christoph Thum and Karl Freiherr von Wolkenstein ) in his place Lehnsbrief and received regalia ..

His most famous legacy is the baroque Erzherzogshut, which is kept in the treasury of the monastery of Klosterneuburg and until 1835 was used by Erbhuldigungen. The tomb of Maximilian III. is located in Innsbruck Cathedral.